Archive for June 2012
AIDS Memorial Quilt: 25th Anniversary
NPR did a great piece about the 25th year of the AIDS Memorial Quilt earlier this week. At 48,000 panels, the Quilt is too large to display in one piece – it would stretch 50 miles. Each panel is 3 feet by 6 feet, the size of a human grave. A woman, inteviewed for the story…
Read MoreGoodbye Wally
(l to r) Steve Romig, Wally Cates, Harry Crosby and Joe Roche in October 1995. Last Friday, I was given the most difficult writing assignment of my life. My aunt Pam asked me to write the obituary for my uncle Wally, whose battle with pancreatic cancer had ended at 3 a.m. that morning. Wally wasn’t…
Read MoreFather's Day H.U.G.S.
The Ball Toss activity kicked off Father’s Day H.U.G.S. last Saturday at Kate’s Club. Kaylan’s dad loved ice cream. His favorite basketball player was Michael Jordan. And he was a great friend to all. Immediately after sharing some of the things she’d written about her dad, the 12-year-old drew and filled in a pink heart…
Read MoreLessons my Dad left with me as I celebrate my first Father’s Day
Just sitting here writing this; my head is swimming in memories. It’s been 11 years since my Dad died of cancer. I was 26 and had the largest parts of my adult life were ahead of me. Life is simply stellar these days and the love and lessons my Father gave me are a real…
Read MoreNational Alliance for Grieving Children responds to newspaper column…
NAGC’s alternate response to June 4, 2012 John Rosemond Column about Childhood Grief. The death of a father is a lifelong loss for a child, but it does not have to “derail” his future. It is normal for a child to miss his father and for his feelings of grief to come and go with…
Read MoreDays of note
Bryan, Jeff and Steve Romig circa 1985. My “little” brother, Bryan, turned 30 yesterday. He’s turned out great despite how much his big brother picked on him growing up. Bryan is literally a rocket scientist with two degrees from Georgia Tech, and he’s married to a great girl, Beth Westeren Romig. They live in Greenville,…
Read MoreSupporting Children Through Grief
On Saturday, June 2nd, the AJC published an article by family psychologist John Rosemond in response to a concerned mother’s inquiry about how to support her 11 year old son grieving the death of his father. http://www.seniorcorrespondent.com/articles/2012/05/30/guiding-children-through-grief.415334 Kate’s Club feels it is extremely important to offer a public response to the mom who drafted the…
Read MoreIs it just a F.A.D.?
Let’s all breathe a sigh of relief it’s not this kind of fad. Big hair and pinch rolled jeans from the 80’s? Bell bottoms? Body piercing? No way! Sure, these were fads (and thank goodness they were), but it isn’t what we’re talking about here. This “fad” stands for fear, anxiety, and depression. I recently…
Read MoreHonoring Orly: Art Therapy Projects
This past Friday we shared Rickey Bevington’s story. She is one of many family members whose life was forever altered by the Orly plane crash 50 years ago today. In addition to their children and grandchildren, the legacy of those Atlantans who died lives on in the incredible arts legacy that now thrives in the…
Read MoreRemembering Orly
(l to r) Dell Rickey and Betsy Bevington Rickey Bevington will reflect about two life-changing anniversaries this weekend. This Sunday, June 3, is the 50th anniversary of the Boeing plane crash at Orly Field near Paris that kiled 106 Atlantans, including Rickey’s grandmother, Betsy Bevington, and great-grandmother, Dell Rickey (pictured above). It’s also the 10th…
Read More